Calling all colorists – Closed

Update: Ok, I think I have enough applicants, thanks for the interest but I need to close submissions so I can start sorting through the folks I have.

Ok, well, not all. Just one probably.

It’s become clear to me that I need a little help with the comic so I can focus on some of the side work, most notably putting the book together and the eventual kickstarter. To that end I’d like to hire a colorist to take on some of the work. Initially I’m thinking two pages/one project a month (I draw 2 pages side by side), at least to start, but if someone just really likes coloring backgrounds or something I’ll consider that too. Fame and fortune await!

Before I post the details, let me temper enthusiasm so I don’t get 100 emails to wade through. It’s a lot of work. At best, it takes me two whole days to color the two pages. Not two evenings, but two 12 hours days, sometimes well into a third. I’ll be the first to tell you I’m quite slow though, so a lot of other people might be able to do it faster, but it’s not something anyone’s going to knock out in 4 hours. Initially the pay will only be $100 per two pages which isn’t great I’ll admit (depending on how fast you are I suppose) but that will go up to $200 when I hit my next Patreon milestone and will continue to increase as the campaign grows. You’ll get credit on the pages you work on of course, so it’ll be a good way to get eyes on your DA page/tumblr/webcomic, whatever, but ideally I’d like someone interested in doing this for a while, maybe even taking over all the coloring eventually. I’d really prefer not to have auditions for a new colorist every 3 months if I can avoid it.

Personally I color in Paint Tool SAI, and a little in Manga Studio 5ex, but I save the files in PSD format for cross compatibility reasons. I don’t care what process you use to color as long as your style isn’t too jarringly different from mine, as I don’t want it to be distracting as people read through the comic. I’ll probably insist a few things have to be done exactly my way like the eyes, but I’m certainly not opposed to hiring someone better than me. :) I rarely pay attention to light direction or ambient color for instance, but that’s mostly to do with keeping the process streamlined and on schedule. I have tried several times to make a video of how I color, but I think my voice becomes quite unengaging if I’m not actually speaking to someone, (don’t hire me to narrate your penguin documentary) so I may set up a stream for prospective colorists so I can do some Q and A. Anyone would be welcome to attend, but obviously if I’m working on a future page it’ll be totally spoilery. I’ll post about that if it looks like it’ll happen, probably be on a Friday and/or Saturday.

If you’re interested, email me at grrlpowercomic-at-gmail and I’ll send you some finished inks and a color palette to work from. I’m not quite sure how to handle getting the file back to me as they tend to get up into the 200MB range, but we’ll figure that out as we go. I use dropbox for everything, but I have a paid account, and if you don’t, and a dozen people are uploading giant PSD files into a mutually shared folder, it can choke out the amount of space in a free account pretty quick.

Dave, as much as I’d love to be your colorist, I have to get back in the groove after not having a tablet for almost 2, 2 and a half years >_<. I wish you the best of luck in your search for a colorist (and maybe I could get a drawing/page here and there afterward the completed page is released, so I could practice my coloring on your lines? :D)

I can’t pretend to be competent at colouring. I’d end up using autocad or something as it’s the best drawing\colouring\modeling program I have experience in. I wouldn’t know how to upload a 2D image to adjust though.

Just end up making the whole cast and locations in framework with layers and positioning them and adjusting the light source etc for each screen capture would be my attempt.

If it would help, you can get a free 10GB online account at box.com with a 250MB
per file upload limit. You only need an email address to sign up. I think I still
have a link that can bump that up to 50GB. Box.com also has a virtual folder for
automatic synching a la dropbox. If you think you would need/use the added space
send me a PM.

No Prob. You might want to sign up for at least the 10GB acct to have in reserve. You only need one acct for everyone to have shared access. It takes less than a minute and doesn’t require any maintenance (other than remembering your password).

I thought I should mention, since we have a lot of Goonish Shive fans here, seems their are actually two web comics for it, the second is a newspaper based comic which is in some ways linear to the main one and plays off of it for a lot of the things that show up. However, and this is a big however, it does not use the actual comics from the original site but entirely different ones which followers of the original site will not have seen. Its pretty easy to find though if you look around the original site.

Yea, I have been enjoying that. You might want to copy your comment to the current comic though, if you are trying to bring this to the attention of more readers. I doubt many will spot it, in this location.

Dude, if you want to make some extra scratch, we should talk; I’ve wanted to add GP tees to my line for a while, but none of my messages have been answered…which doesn’t surprise me, busy guy like you. :)

Still, if you could stable a few solid designs for your fans, I bet you could make some killer monay-monay-monay-moooo-nay….MOOOO-nay!

Just hit me up on the site if you’re interested, and we’ll take it from there. Loves and snuggles, Jordan (Apocalyptee Dictator-for-Life).

Thanks for the edit Dave nice to see you gave him the little bit of dignity. Sort of a get drunk and screw situation then. Just enough to enjoy it but not quite enough to remember every detail and a helluva headache when you wake up.

Given a lot of the species in Divine Blood at their basic level aren’t much if at all more powerful than humans, I had to think about this a bit for succubi.

First, I knew that they had been driven near to extinction by Morrigan, Goddess of Bloodshed, who herself was regretful of her actions in modern times. This also led to the development of the seven Purges, of which Morrigan is one.

Anyway, I decided that the reason they were targeted for destruction was the upcoming creation of the Compact which would kill a Yomian Immortal for every Nirvanite killed and vice versa. Certain segments of the Immortal populations decided that the existence of mortal races who knew about them…and especially knew about the Compact…would be dangerous, so they misused their authority to order certain people to go around targeting populations of mortals that had been created by or heavily influenced by the Gods and Mortals.

Side note: This suddenly has me thinking Balor was involved on the Yomi side of the Purges since he was the only that knew how to kill other Immortals on the same communal mindscape without alerting the whole mindscape that he did it….anyway…

So the Purges killed lots of Dvergar (dwarves/cyclops), Succubi, Jurougumo (who weren’t connected to the Immortals at all but one of the Purges just didn’t like them), Lemurians (previously known as Deep Ones) and a number of humans connected to the Immortals. Also killed a number of Gods and Demons that tried to stop them. (Dagon, for example, was killed by Houyi when the archer was targeting the Deep Ones). Things turned into a mess when at least one Demon and one God from the Purges questioned the reasons behind their orders and went to Lilith and Vishnu at about the same time that the other Purges were taking on the trolls and seraphim….which was a huge show on its own.

Anyway that is digression…I have apparently started sound boarding…anyway.

I decided that since the succubi were one of the groups targeted by the Purges they must have been heavily influenced by the Gods or the Demons at some point. Due to real world myth informing my myth, I decided that it had to be the Demons. Further thought, I decided that succubi were created out of humans by Demons during the Age of Gods….after the Gods and Demons overthrew their insane elders and took on those names given them by mortals but before Lilith and Vishnu solidified their respective rules and more mortal-friendly way of governing.

I thought about their myths again and decided they were designed as spies and to create a fifth column through breeding.

I decided on my own that the sex-demon thing was mostly inaccurate. They have combined elements of biokinesis, empathy and illusion ability natural, not accounting for what they learn of sorcery and high or low magic. The demonic image is a defensive illusion backed by a limited telekinesis and deliberately aims for the uncanny valley by mixing attractiveness and inhuman features. Their natural form is more like a human with lavender sclera and four-pointed stars for pupils.

As part of growing up, they unconsciously settle on an archetype to aim towards and start to subconsciously use their nascent empathy to filter through the minds of people they grow up around to pick up a combined image of elements that the people around them feel best fits that image. This process gets finished by their mid-teens when they appear to go through puberty similar to human process (though their inhuman nature starts to bloom here too, the eyes change, their inherent abilities reach the level of conscious use though still primarily parlor tricks until they get training). At about this time, they start unconsciously plumbing the humans around them for the combination of features that would produce the most disturbing and disorienting visage and start creating their defensive illusion. Since most know they’re succubi and there are clear impressions of succubi in the minds of most humans, they tend to have similar demonic features (wings, horns, etc) it’s an unconscious process after all built off the subconscious of people around them.

They then appear to be as mature as any human of the same age 14 to 18 or so. Intellectually and physically, they appear young adult. Emotionally and sexually, they are still pre-adolescent and go through the final stages in their mid-twenties.

They’re all female and reproduction is carried out via use of biokinesis meaning that any sentient with a genetic code can help them produce a new child. Sex is used purely to forge the empathy with their partner(s) and trigger their bodies ready to accept an embryo (though they also just enjoy sex…and they can use the biokinesis to impregnate a female partner as well, just most succubi prefer to have their children close). They are able to control the resulting offspring’s species. So they could produce an offspring of any species involved in the act or a pure example of one such participant’s species. Though not all succubi are polyamorous, it all depends on which archetype they picked up. So there are a lot of monogamous succubi, though they all tend to be pansexual because, again, all they need is a sentient with a genetic code to reproduce (some of strong preferences for one gender or another or non-gendered or so on…but its the equivalent of preferring blondes).

The realization of just WHERE the succubi got the sex demon reputation came when one of my fans asked me if it were possible to raise a succubi to be a cat girl with tail and ears and all…to which my realization was “yes, but that would only be a certainty if you completely isolated her from the age of about 6 from literally any other archetype so that was the only one she could latch onto.”

After cringing at the level of child abuse involved I found myself thinking about the devastated post-Purge population of succubi who didn’t flee the world for one of the hidden extradimensional shards. And suddenly had this image of a large number of succubi children with little to no adult protection in a 20 BC to 1300 AD (when they were finally declared extinct..because no one knew about the groups that escaped). And especially if there were people that knew about them latching onto archetypes….combine that with the fact that they appear to mature at the same rate of humans and don’t….and the resultant nightmare came up with a relatively large number of psychologically traumatized succubi raised to be sex-slaves or the like.

I’m fairly certain that the succubi that are coming back through their interactions with the US Navy’s Socrates Group (as yet not talked about much) are probably appalled at the reputation of their species.

Anyway, I know Dave said before he likes hearing alternate ways people came up with stuff and I ranted more than intended…but that’s the sound board his commentary under the comic made me think of.

Can we talk about how the big, ugly demon-thing that Dabbler was seen vanquishing with a jaunty, ‘back of the line, and thanks for all the loot’ can be seen as a buttoned-up nerd in the classroom of her youth?

Uh no, Sydney’s a virgin, isn’t she? Unless there is a steamy side story about her and Joel….. Anyway, that fifth panel is swank! Camera shots from an above angle always provide a great and exciting perspective.

Hey guys. Love the small hint of what Veria is able to do when connected with Halo (spotted the Orbs surronding her aswell when they hold hands XD)
So dont know if i would call it a good Combo. Since if means they both lose one hand to wield the orbs XD. But..If it allows Veria to use the “Pesudopod orb” to “Hold someone elses hand” further away.. if could be a nice range incressment.

Sry for bad gramma, and if its inapropriate for me to comment on my guess here :)

In those stories, with the way it played out for them? Sure. However we have yet to see how it goes here. For the moment though, it is shaping up very credibly.

Further, if we go by real world military reactions, Dave has managed to gain military readers from every major service in the U.S., and many others from every continent barring Antarctica. So, from that point of view, supers and the military are mixing, very well!

I keep meaning to bring this up but keep forgetting to. Their is actually a book series out there called, “Girl Power”. Currently its only four books in total. The premise of Girl power is just a but unconventional. In the World of Girl Power you have a group much like the Justice League, or rather with four members like members of the Justice League. Except all male members, now here is where things get interesting. During a mission into the secret layer of a defunct and captured mad scientist the heroes are hit by a ray which changes them dramatically. When they awake their in a hidden military facility and discover that the ray they were hit with turned them all into women and also has made them all younger. Other than that I’m not saying anything, you’d need to actually read the books yourself if you want to know anymore.

Actually, people mistake tall women – no matter how they’re stacked – for men all the time. I’m not even especially tall, and it’s annoying. They’ll just autopilot, ‘How may I help you sir…’ And then be looking right at my breasts before they correct themselves. And that’s assuming they even notice their mistake.

wow, discovered this site from Dark legacy web – and it is awesome:D it is funny and a lot more, i hope we will finally undestand skilltree for Sydney, and i hope there will be more Barbarian (hope he will transform to good guy under (literally) succubus) and amnesia hammer

I’m curious about one thing, though: would tuning down the art style to the level of pre-2013 strips make updates significantly faster?
I recently discovered this comic and read through all of it in almost a single sitting. The art style changed a lot over the last years; a lot for the better, obviously (especially the details on uniforms, clothing and backgrounds).
But I also feel that the coloring tends to get a bit over-styled lately. Especially noticable during that shower-scene.
I get that you try to match the anime-style of Sydney with the western comic style of the other supers, but I think you could actually put less work into the coloration at this point without the comic suffering in visual fidelity.
I actually liked the more minimalistic and stylized look of 100-200 a lot, simply because the faces didn’t look so 3d’ish and plastic-y back then.

Obviously, that’s a matter of taste. I can get why people prefer the current style. I just wanted to say that this might be an option worth looking into, especially since you seem to have trouble with the coloration thing (or finding a good team member assisting you on that) anyway.

Maybe try out one or two strips in “minimalistic mode” (i.e. only base colors and 1-2 shading layers without much smoothing) again and see how much faster this goes now that you have accumulated years of experience?

Obviously, this is just a comment from a random reader who loves your comic. I’ve worked on a lot of coloration jobs in the past and I absolutely know your pain, especially as I always was a lasso-guy, so imagine the time you need on the worst possible image and then add at least 50% of extra time investment on top of it. Blegh. Coloring is a pain in the ass.

There are ways I could save time on the art, and I’m experimenting with a few, but I don’t want to drop the quality of the art, so it’s a balance. I’d love to give myself a little more time each week. If nothing else I could keep the vote incentive up to date better.

Yeah, I can understand why you don’t want to go back to a more minimalistic style again as it feels like … undoing progress? And for someone with a certain amount of OCD and perfectionism, that is no option (I can’t even tell how often I revisited finished portions of coloration or programming jobs in the past just to correct minor mistakes that nobody except me actually cared about).

However, there are always means to reduce the workload even without actually tuning down the art-style – especially when you look at professional Manga artists. Mostly by removing background scenery [the infamous “action background” filler patterns] or by simplifying the shading of background scenery when it’s not integral to the scene. I don’t know how often you actually re-use background scenery, so I can’t tell if that would actually save a significant amount of time.

And now please excuse me, I have to cry a little on the inside for getting confirmed that we won’t get that sweet stylized look back. :P

Looks like Sydney’s mind is doing cartwheels, it would be nice if one of the next pages that went up was look inside her head. Although given her personality I’m not sure what the internal workings of her mind might be like.

Names I have known:
Seaman Semen.
Had an acquaintance get married and take her new hubby’s last name. This made her own name Ms. Rottenhouse Funk.
Knew a woman who named her twins after her favorite food when she was preggers. (I’m probably misspelling these two but I’m uncertain): Orangjello and Lemonjello

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